The total area of sea ice is the sum of First Year Ice (FYI), Multi Year Ice (MYI) and the area
of ambiguous ice types, from the OSISAF ice type product. However, the total estimated ice area
is underestimated due to unclassified coastal regions where mixed land/sea pixels confuse the
applied ice type algorithm. The shown sea ice extent values are therefore recommended be used
qualitatively in relation to ice extent values from other years shown in the figure....

"“We live here like slaves,” Paulo Ferreira says in his slow country drawl, as he remembers how he toiled in the Amazon this year for no pay. He slept in a makeshift wooden shelter and drank water from a spring clogged with cattle manure. He is 67-years-old.

On the far-flung ranch where Mr Ferreira recently worked for three
months he had no choice but to buy provisions from the rancher — no town
was conveniently near. He built up a debt so large it became impossible
for him to leave.

When payday came, his boss gave him no wages, saying his labours had
been just enough to cover the debt. Complaining was not an option. “If a
labourer tries to denounce a rancher to the authorities, he will be
killed,” Mr Ferreira observes.

The idea that slavery still exists touches a raw nerve in Brazil. The
country imported 4m African slaves during its first 400 years of
history — 40 per cent of the total brought to the [western hemisphere] Americas, compared
with 10 per cent for the US.It was the last large nation in the
hemisphere to end slavery: abolition came only in 1888.

“This is a country still struggling to break with its past of
slavery, a past still present in our society,” says Ubiratan Cazetta, a
public prosecutor in Pará. In fact, he and others argue, the battle
against the trade is becoming more difficult....

Like Mr Ferreira, many labourers soon find themselves crippled by
debt, because they have no capital of their own, often having to borrow
just to make the long journey to the ranch, as well as for provisions.

Most labourers do not dare to leave the farm or try to escape their
growing debts. Although 24-hour armed guards are now rare on farms,
crooked ranchers readily contract “pistoleiros”, local hitmen, to deal
with argumentative workers, prosecutors and activists say. And when the
authorities carry out raids to stop illegal logging, the ranchers
themselves often disappear, leaving their forced labourers to take the
heat.

An initial crackdown began after the experiences of Zé Pereira, a
labourer who in 1989 was lured to a ranch in Pará where he was
imprisoned and forced to work without pay. He escaped, was ambushed and
left for dead — but somehow survived and managed to file an official
complaint.

In the ensuing outcry, the government began to publish a blacklist of
farms accused of using slave labour. Those on the list were
automatically blocked from government credit or business with state
agencies.

But Mr Cazetta, the prosecutor in Pará, complains that the problem
has worsened again over the past 10 years as the ranchers and the
agricultural lobby have fought back. The Brazilian supreme court has
halted the blacklisting of farms and businesses that allegedly use slave
labour, arguing that the list’s publication violates the right of
defence of those named.

“Resistance has become a lot more sophisticated,” Mr Cazetta says.
“Culturally, Brazil is accustomed to tolerating conditions of labour in rural areas that amount to slavery."Along the Transamazonian highway, the same road that snakes past Mr
Ferreira’s unadorned house, there is no shortage of cases showing that
slavery endures........... In one incident last year, a 22-year-old from Maranhão disappeared
just after ringing his mother to tell her he was due to be paid and was
about to come home. A month later a cowboy riding by saw vultures
circling in the distance. On closer inspection he found the corpse.

Local Catholic activists have long lists of such crimes which, as in this case, often go without proper investigation.

They also worry that a recent decline in slavery in Pará may soon be reversed. For the past four to five years, unskilled labour in the
region has had an alternative, much more attractive source of employment
— the Belo Monte project, a giant hydropower dam near the city of
Altamira. But the construction work is scheduled to end in the coming
months. That will release thousands of people desperate for work back on
to the market.

Faced with utter destitution, many of Brazil’s poorest people still
take their chances and sign up for work in remote farms in the Amazon —
despite the debts, the threats and the risk of forced labour.

It is a desperate choice that Paulo Ferreira and his family are all
too familiar with. “Otherwise how will we live?” asks Maria, the
daughter-in-law of the weather-beaten worker. “By eating the walls of
our homes?”...

Declaring that India is in Afghanistan to contribute not to compete, but
to lay the foundations of future and not light the flame of conflict."Afghanistan will succeed only when terrorism no longer flows across
the border; when nurseries and sanctuaries of terrorism are shut; and,
their patrons are no longer in business, he said, adding, "Terror and
violence cannot be the instrument to shape Afghanistan's future or
dictate the choices Afghans make," he said.

The Prime Minister was addressing the Afghan Parliament here after
inaugurating its swanky new building that was built by India at a cost
of nearly Rs. 600 crore (USD 90 million) in the presence of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.He also opened an 'Atal block' in the Parliament premises named after
former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose 91st birthday fell
today.In his nearly 40-minute address during which he was lustily cheered by
the assembled audience on several occasions, PM Modi also made a veiled
reference to Pakistan's reservations about Indian involvement in
Afghanistan, saying, "there are some who do not want us to be here".PM Modi said, "There are some who did not want us to be here. There were
those who saw sinister designs in our presence here. There are others
who were uneasy at the strength of our partnership. Some even tried to
discourage us."PM Modi saluted people of Afghanistan for having faith in India and not
judge by what others tell them, including about the mysterious Indian
consulates, in another veiled dig at Pakistan."You never doubted the sincerity of our commitment and the strength of
our friendship. And, you have seen the fruits of our partnership," he
said, adding, "You have judged us by what you see, not what others tell
you, including about the mysterious Indian consulates."Pakistan has long alleged that India was fomenting trouble in its
Balochistan province through Indian consulates in Kandahar and
Jalalabad."You know that India is here to contribute not to compete; to lay the
foundations of future, not light the flame of conflict; to rebuild
lives, not destroy a nation," PM Modi said."

"A Republican Playbooker who lives in D.C. is back home in New
Hampshire for the week: “Driving around the state’s capital [Concord]
(which is more heavily Democrat than Republican)...you notice...lots
of visible support for Bernie: lawn signs and bumper stickers. There
are signs of support for Hillary too, but Bernie appears to be winning
the passion race, if nothing else. A smattering of Ben Carson signs
placed only at busy intersections. More paid media from Right to Rise [Bush PAC]
than anyone.

"Lately, Mitt Romney has been so consumed with fundraising that his
aides have had to defend his absence from the stump. Like his foe, the
Republican nominee is in the midst of a frenzied financial arms race.
But one hugely wealthy individual has not yet been persuaded to part
with much cash to support the Republican cause: Mitt Romney himself....

Romney, for whatever reason, has failed to use his personal wealth to
pay his campaign’s bills. His refusal to self-finance is one of the
mysteries of this campaign.

After all, if Romney were to help fund his own bid, he would have ample company. In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that it would violate the First Amendment to limit what candidates can
spend on their own behalf. Ever since, wealthy office-seekers commonly
have ponied up. John Kerry lent more than $6 million to fund his Iowa
caucus drive in 2003. Hillary Clinton lent her campaign over $11 million
four years later. Steve Forbes gave his 1996 campaign $32 million, and
spent nearly $37 million four years after that. Ross Perot spent $63
million to finish strongly in 1992, back when that was real money.

In fact, four years ago [2008] the former governor gave his own campaign
nearly $45 million. He even donated a Winnebago trailer. “I’m not
beholden to any particular group for getting me into this race or for
getting me elected,” ABC News
quoted him as saying. “My family, that’s the only one I’m really
beholden to — they’re the ones who let their inheritance slip away,
dollar by dollar.”

The Romney boys can sleep easy: Their dad’s assets are worth nearly
$250 million, according to financial disclosure forms. But he has put
only $150,000 into this year’s run, through a joint gift with his wife
Ann to a Republican committee last spring.

Romney’s campaign surely could use the money. His summer fundraising
was less robust than it appeared, since much of it was committed to
party committees not controlled by him. His campaign borrowed $20
million as a “bridge” loan to keep ads on the air before the general
election began. Even the super PACs have less on hand now than seemed
likely just a few months ago. His strategist Ed Gillespie bemoaned the
time Romney must spend fundraising. “I don’t think anybody considers
Utah to be on the target state list, but it was an important event for
us,” he said of a recent fundraiser held in Salt Lake City, according to
BuzzFeed....

For his
part, he (Romney) has fretted publicly that spending his own funds would be “akin
to a nightmare.”...

Also, his money may not be easy to access. We know that much of it is
tied up in offshore accounts and complex tax-driven trusts....

A large gift could
open him to the charge he is trying to buy the presidency. That seems
unlikely, though....

Individuals and corporations can give unlimited sums to super
PACs so long as they pretend not to coordinate with candidates....Billionaires such
as Sheldon Adelson now sponsor candidates as if they were racehorses.
Mitt Romney might find himself just as surprised as anyone at how his
own campaign seems less flush than it seemed just a few weeks ago, with
initiative and power flowing tothe purportedly independent groups thatnow constitute a de facto Republican Party....

“I don’t think anybody considers Utah to be on the target state list,
but it was an important event for us,” Gillespie said of a recent
fundraiser held in Salt Lake City. He said they hoped to soon have enough moneyin their campaign coffers to carry them through November 6th....

"Mexico
is going to become the car capital of the world, just you watch," he
said,adding he'll place a 35% tax on cars coming into the United
States, even vehicles made by domestic automakers outside the country.
"And if you wait another day, it's going to be 40%."...

Mr. Trump's achievement required skirting the spirit
if not the letter of New York State's archaic Wicks Law, which bars use
of a general contractor for public works costing more than $50,000. The
state and localities must seek separate bids for construction,
plumbing, electrical, heating and ventilation work. Agencies like the
Parks Department or Board of Education, with little expertise, are left
to coordinate the work.

Though intended to increase competition and reduce
building costs, the Wicks Law does the opposite. The inevitable
conflicts and delays caused by multiple contracting scare off
responsible bidders, while inviting shoddy work, cost overruns and
endless litigation. The city estimates that the law costs the taxpayers
$100 million annually.

Yet the State Legislature, responding to union
pressure, refused to act last session on Governor Cuomo's proposal to
repeal the law and allow the city to use general contractors. Meanwhile,
the city isn't helpless. It could be setting tougher requirements for
bidders and making more use of experienced project managers for complex
jobs.

"“We want to win Iowa so badbecause if we win Iowa, I
think we run the table, I really do,” Trump told about 2,000 cheering
Iowans who packed the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State
Fairgrounds.

“If I win Iowa, I think it’s over,” said the New York
entrepreneur, who plans to be in the lead-off state “a lot” in January
and on caucus day. “I love you people, remember that,” he told rally
attendees, many of whom waved signs bearing the message “The silent
majority stands with Trump” and wore red “Make America Great Again”
caps....

Trump pounded on familiar
campaign themes of building a wall along the U.S. southern border,
barring Syrian refugees from entering the United States, protecting
Second Amendment gun rights and criticizing Washington, D.C.,
incompetence....

In the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris and
San Bernardino, Calif., Trump modified his theme by saying he wants to
“make America great and safe again.”...

(New York, NY) December 17, 2015 – "If anyone needed more evidenceof
why the American people are suffering at the hands of their own
government, look no further than the budget deal announced by Speaker
Ryan. In order to avoid a government shutdown, a cowardly threat from an
incompetent President, the elected Republicans in Congress threw in the
towel and showed absolutely no budget discipline.

According
to the Quinnipiac University Pollreleased Monday morning, Donald Trump
stands in the lead with support from 28 percent of likely Iowa
Republican Caucus-goers. Sen. Cruz is a close second with 27 percent. According
to a media release from Quinnipiac, Senator Marco Rubio is in third
place with 14 percent, and Dr. Ben Carson has 10 percent."...